The Seaforth News, 1932-05-26, Page 3Tii!UURIS!DAY MAY 26,:1932.
THE SEAFORTH NEWS.
The Land of Bur
,The Auld A'liow'ay Kirk—The Origin
of the Cotter's Saturday iNighi
—Tani; o' Shan'ter--Toe Auld
'Brig o' Doon, etc:
"Admired, but una'ide,d, how dark
was his story,
II-Iis struggles we know, and his
efforts we prize;
,From murky neglect, as the flame
•burs(ts to glory,
He rose, sel-embalmed, and de-
traction. defies" f
Leaving the "auld 'clay biggin,"
)where. S'c'otland': greatest poet w!aa
born. we took the rdail which • lead!:• fo
'the "banks and braes o' .bonnie Doot "
-Which have been .'rendered immortal
by his muse. This is perhaps' the most
dnitensely .interesting spot in all Scot-
land to an admirer of th'e, ,ploughinan>
bard: We leave his 'natal spot a sh!orl`
+distance in the rear and as we proceed
observe to the right bare walls o'f.
��'Itloway's auld haunted kirk where
gh'ai'sts and h+owlets nightly cry." As
we approach, this world-reno'w'ned cad-.
16ce, -we observe that the roof is igorie
and that the gable ends are prevented
;from falling in by a long iron rod 'ex -
lending from one end to,the other
the admirers of the ,poet being, desir-
,ous of preserving this relic for the in-:
spection of tourists as long as they
'could. We find that throughout '
:1Scotland places Of interest • are pre -
'served as, much as possible un-' their.
original simplicity, and this 'is` wh'alt
renders a visit to thi4 country so fas-
icin'ating to the traveller. We are now
in front of the Alloway Kirk and 'but
a short distance -from the Burns mon
tument and the "Auld '!B'ri'g o' Doon;"
but the .attraction was too great -ewe
could 'net pass those -'bare walls and
'that graveyard with so many of the
friends and relations of Burn's mould-
,ering. in the: silent dust. We 'entered,
and to the right our eyes rested upon
the tombstone erected by the poet to
'his revered father, who 'is known to
"have inspired one o'f Burns' 'finest
Imams, •-.• "The Cot'ter's :S'aturd'ay
�
N��ight." T-he'originai •tomlbstone, •erect -
' ;y' to the poet's father, had been all
icarrid away by relic hunters, and is
a'ow in all pants of the globe, so Ro-
bert, to .his credit, be it said, placed
the present modest monument over
this 'sire's ashes, and'
as yet it remainsintact. In reference to 'this poem,
critics have differed widely. Come con-
,sidering it rather tame, and 'certainly
it cannot be compared with Tam 0'
1Shantiter in fire, originality, invention,
and in that peculiarity of jumping, as
it were) from the sublime to the ridi-
culous, and no poemthat we are ac=
'gtsainited, with can compare with it,
'but still The ,Cotter's. Saturday Night
isa poem pregnant with .fine senti-
ment, and has themerit of 'being a
true picture of a pious 'Scot'tish fant'ily
of the olden time. Moreover, it is not
'— 4 WIeing in originality, pathos and pa-
ttriotism, and what is better than. all,
it has a strong tendency to 'make the
heart better. Iit is, in short, one of 'the
(best sermons that ever was. written.
!Our poet never fails in all his writ-
ings to draw a good moral lesson. and
here the lesson is grand, and as we
• stood by the grave of the hero of the
poem, we quoted that lessonword's
strong and earnest --that lesson that
seemed to he echoed back to us from
the city of the dead in the midst of
',which we were standing:
From scenes like these: old Sco-
tia's grandeur springs,
IT+hat makes' her lov'd et home,
revers abroad; '
Princes and lords are but bhe
breath of kings,
Ant laonesit man's the nobllest
,work of Gad.
10 Scotia! my dear, my native soil!
For whom • my warm'est wish
to 'heaven is sent
ILoug may thy hardy sons o'f rus-
- tic toil
Me blest with health and peace
and sweet content,
IAnd oh,,'.may 'hea'ven their simple
iivee prevent
'Prom luxury's contagion, weak
'and wile.
Then, howe'er crowns and cor-
onets be rent,
A virtuous populace may arise.
the while,
And stand a wall of fire around
their much lov'd isle. i
(Here also we noticed the' tomb of
!Burns' youngest and b'est'beloved
ter, I'sabcbta, 'a sister whose untiring
l'o've followed ''hi'm 4:h'rough his devi-
ou'd and often erring ways. Aroused
we 'noticed' the graves of many who
admired the Ayrshire poet in ...their
lives, and' who, we were told, lid re-
quested their friends to bury bhem in
Alldway''khlkyard when they died,
which request had been religiously
carried out. But now for an examina-
tion of the ruins o'f Auld ' A'19oway
Kirk, a building which had been paint-
ed on • the canvas of our imagin-
ation long 'before we crossed the wild
Atlantic. While yet a boy we had fol-
lowed Tam on that dread night when
he rode from Ayr to the "Auld Brig
o' Doon," and imagined for the time
we were ' seated 'behind him. The
whole poem is a wondetlful piece of
imagination. 'It is almost made out of
'whole cloth. it stirs up the imagina-
tive powers of the reader to the very
life. I can shut my eyes and see him
riding yet. Tam ha''s• ridden clear into:
immortality.
• (Still On mare, Maggie, bauld Tam
ds astride,
He'll never dis'moun't from that
terrible 'ride." '
shaggy dog, must have' occupied .on
tate niglit in. question, considering that
'lam was 'coating from Ayr and go-
i.r;g towards the :"Auld Brig o' Boon":
While we Looked in at the identical
window through which 'Tana himself
had stared upon that. awful night
A
child might understand,
The ,deft 'had business on his hand,"
the whole scene seemed" to be de
enacted in allitsliving, thrilling real-
ity .before .as. There, in •imagination,
von beheld the clamteens,: atucl there, too,
in the opposite ,window was the "Auld
ISneek drawing, dog" playing the bag-
pipes, ;which my 'I1lighfand ancestors
loved so well to'hear5 but which were
never 'ii tended to be desecrated by
such black, infernal paws as his. The
storm, likewise, gave awful reality to
the scene, for it. also, was'descencting,.
in imagination, upon our devoted
head, 'for
"The wind blew as 'dw'ad brawn:
,its last;
The rattling showers rose on the
)blast; •
The speedy gleans the darkness
swallowed, •
Lou,d, deep and Lang the t'hu'nder ,
' 'bellowed."
ant our chief interest,. like that of
Tam's, was concentrated in the scene
which was being en'a'cted within; from,
this no storm, haw -ever 'wild, could at-
tract our attention. '
"As 'Tommie gl'nw'rd, ,atnaz'd and
curious,
The miisth and 'fust grew fast and
'furious;
The p'ip'er loud and louder blew,
'The dancers quick and quicker
!flew;
•They 'reel'd, they set, they cross'd
'they cleekit,
Till Eke a carli,n swat and reekut,
And'caost her ,duddies to the wark,
And linket at it in her sack."
There, too, was Nannie, the nimbl-
est o'f all the "core"; anyone who had
ever seen a witch in his, day could
easily pick her out. There was no mis-
taking her—
"A souple jade she was,•and
strong."
The play i$ now complete! The ac-
tors
ctors' are perfect! A living d'ra'ma is, be-
ing enacted
ein.g'enacted be+foreusl No wonedr that
"......Tam stood like' ane be-
witcli'd,
And thought his very een en-
rich'd."
for nomortal could have done other -1
wise—for
'T'he kirk,. like most of t'he ruins inj.
this land, , is totnelwhat "obscured by;
trees and covered with ivy, which;
gives it a still more reverend and
hoary aspect. The building is riot by
any means a`large one and would not!
accommodate a very numerous com-,
pany of datticets: this is, perhaps; the'
reason that Satan tools his seat in the,
window on that eventful night.
"A winnock-ihunker in the east,
There sat auld Nick, in shape o'
beast;
A tow'sie' tyke, black, grim and
large.
To gie then music was his cbarge;
'He screwed the pipes and gart
'them' skirl,
Till roof and rafters a' did_ dirt."
iW'e took a good look at the seat
which Auld Nick. in the form of a
'E'en Setan g1owr% and ftdg'd fe 1
fain.
And liotc'h'd, and blew 'wi' might
and m'a'in;
'Till first ae caper, Syne' anither,
Tam tint his reason a't'hegither,
Ansi,, rears out, "Weel •done, Cutty -
Sark I"
And in an instant a' was dark;
And scarcely had, he Maggie ral-
lied,
'When nutthe hellish legion sallied."
'The spell is Ibrolren. The play is
end'e'd'—at 'lea'st so far as we are con-
cerne3. T't is 'far otherwise with poor
'Tam." It is a life and •death struggle
wrfh 'him, Ohances and war are
against 'him. His only 'hop'e' is in his
faifh'ftil mare Maggie. If she can only
carry:him to the "keystane o' the
(brig;'!, Tani - will be safe. All interest
now centres in Maggie. 'We go with
C •tenter
GheckB' o
•
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e Seaforth
SEAFORTH, ONTARIO.
Great ' ships which go to sea
make doubly sure by carrying
two anchors. If one should not
hold in an emergency, there is ,
another available . to take ' its
place.
In their personal finances, many
men rely chiefly on the one
anchor of their regular earnings..
But the wiser ones prepare for
an emergency by creating a.
second anchor - a Savings
Reserve. Come what may, you.
will have security and peace of
mind if you have built up a
strong Savings Account. Start -
now deposit regularly a pro—
portion of your income so that'
you may, week by week, develop.
a secondary safeguard.
Seventeen Branches in Ontario
Pimviwr.EoFO`
�� AViNGS OFFiCE:
EVERY DEPOS/T6/AP. 'EEDJero»TARIO6'O E NMENT_
• . PARLIAMENT
HEAD OFFICE BUILDINGS
SEA'FORTH BRANCH ` J. M. McM'I'LLAN, MANAGER
Ther to the "Auld brig o' Darin" both
ip body and in spirit. We lift our hat
—we cheer her on in that terrible
race—
"Now, do thy speedy utmost,
Meg.,
Ansi win the keystane of the brig;
There at them, thou thy tail may
toss,
A running stream they darena .crass,
But ere the keystane she 'could
make,
The flent a tail she had to shake.
For Nannie, far before the rest,
Hard upon noble Maggie prest,
And flew at Tans. wi furious ettle,
IBM little mist she M'aggie's
mettle—
Ae spring brought aff her maister
hale,
But left ,behind 'her alit' grey tail;
The canlin elaugltti ,her by the
rump
And 'left poor Maggie sca'r`ce a
stump."
IWe stood on the banks of the Dealt
and gazed up at the ``keystane of the
,brig" where Maggie and' 'Tam but
barely escaped from Nannie and the
hellish legion which pursued them.
'We then stood on the centre of the
"brig" , righ't''above, the "keystane" of
the arch, where Nannie seized poor
Haggie's •tail, 'but durst not pass th'e
centre of the stream. \rV.e then creas-
ed over to the Carrick side—afeat the
Witches were unable to perform—re-
citing as we went the last verse which
.contains the moral of the whole • story:
"Now, wha this tale o' truth shall
read,
Ilk man and mother's son take
• 'heed;
Wheneclf'er nedto drink you are 9n-
Or•cutty-sarks run in your mind,
Think -1 ye may buy :tate joys
owre dear-
Remember Tam O'Silanter's mare"
The auld brig is only ;used for foot
passengers now. and is guarded by an
iron railing so as 'to prevent wheeled
vehicles from passing over it, as it is
very old and 'considered rather inse-
cure. A subs'tantial new bridge has
been erected at a short distance down
the stream. We strolled down to the
new 'brig and stood on the centre,
from wshich position we 'lead a good
view of the Auld one—which was of
far more interest to us ,than the mod-
ern edilfiee. We .now wandered tip and
-down along the banks :of the •river
from the new brig to the Alloway
IM'ili, where Berns once attended a
private school.— the'tea'cher having
been engaged 'by (Burns''. father and
five or six other fanners. The hanks
and :braes o' bonnie Delon are still
beattei.furl, probably as delightful as
when the :poet sang In' their praises.
The clear stream was m'tirmuning over
its pebbly bottom, the elassoming
trees` were ,overhanging its banks, the
early. fi!o'wers Were blooming on the
hr;aes, the buds of 'the niodest haw-
thorn were bursting iubo blossoms
and scenting the evening air with their
sweet perfume, while the herds were
singing, the requiem of d'e'parting day
in the boughs of the trees Which
stretched their lolnig ernes ip friendly,
union above the silver stream. To
crown all --the sun eeh'ich had been
obscured by unfriendly clouds,' nolw
burst; fonth, giving the mist abovelthe
stream a rose:co'1'tired bee, • and' dif-
fusing a halo of golden glory over one.
Of the mast lovely landscapes . which:
even this lovely country can produce.
As we stood with folded arms on the
banks of the Doon near the Midway
Mill and viewed the scene whish we
have but imperfectly described, I said
to myself, for iI was all alone in the
calm of a Scottish gloamin', "What'
wonder that surroundings such 'as
these prompted 'by a mournful love
tale in Teal life ,should inspire Burns
to compose one of his lbest love songs,
and walking slowly towards the mon-
ument we hnnrnred the words of the
song which has made the banks and
braes o' bonny b'o'on live in eternal
green, its flowers bloom in immortal
beauty and its birds sing forever:
"Ye banks and braes o' bonny
IDoon,
)How can ye bloom sae fresh
and fair;
(How can ye chant, ye little birds,
And I so weary, fu' o' care!
Thou'Il break my heart, thou'
warbling bird,
That wantons through the flow-
ering thorn;
Thou minds me 6' departed joys,
IDeparted—never to return.
Aft hae I roved by bonny D'oon.
To see t'he rose and woodbine
twine; •
And ilka bird sang o' its lave,
And 'fondly sae did I o' mine,
Wi' lightsome heart I pu'd a. rose,
Fu' sweet upon its thorny tree;
And my fause .lever stole my
rose,
But •ah!'he left the •thorn wi' me.
THE EGY'PTIA'N OVEN AND
THE MODERN INCUBATOR
'('Experimental 'Farms Note:)
A glance at the up-to-date •'incuba-
tors now in general use would lead
one' to !believe that this descendant is
a long tray removed from its ancestor,
the old Egyptian hatching oven that.
was in opera4'ion thousands if years
before Christ and is still used in that
Old !Uan:d.
The anciene.incuba'tor is really a
mud house in which everything is
done 'from the inside, the eggs' are
placed in a separate room, the heat is
applied from within, and the operator
does his work front the inside a's well].
The modern incubator 'has the .heat
automatically applied from without,
and. insltead of a smudge- burning
for days to raise the temperature
high
enough so that the eggs: may be
put in, a button is pressed. and elec-
tricity quickly heats the, egg ch'am'ber
to .the desired :tempera'tur'e. The Egyp-
tian', .sweltering ie a temperature of
103, and crouched in a very uuncotn
forta'ble position, turned the eggs by
]rand, one by one. 'The modern at-
tendant touches a lever and the
whole is turned in art'Metan't.
Nor has the a!ttend'ant today to
gnosis at the:tentuperature of the egg
chamber as ,was the case, and still is—
in the old • style, a 'thermometer in
plain view indicates 'ti'e..exact temper-
ture and a therntost't't keeps it•at any
given point by automatically tur•iiin'g
the electricity :off and on. In the • old
incu'bator humidity was introduced by
of'moist straw, or by sprinkling Water
on the .itoor",and wal'l's. JIvt'noiddyiteg
is modernized to the reservoir. and the
electric fan,
Yes, it's a long way 'front the inlet)
1 .
betor of adobe, without fight or ven-
tila•tion, with heat supplied by smould-
ering manure, where the almost naked
attendant, in a sweltering Iaeat, crawls
around to do his 'work, to the moderx4
and efficient incubators of today con- -
trolled and m'an'aged in ease and coin- -
fort. yes, it's a long 'way, except in
the percentage ' of healthy, living
'chicks hatched. For full information
on modern methods of incubation ap-
ply to your near'es't Dominion' Ex-
pe'rimen'tal Farm.
JOHN W. HOBBS JOINS',
C. P. R. DIRECTORATE
Toronto Business Magnate..,
Has EDistinguishecL
Career
John Wilberforce Hobbs, who"
has just been made a director of•.
the .Canadian Pacific. Railway;
Company, is a typical Canadian
and equally typical of business:
success, his new directorship be--
ing added to a series of executives
connections with some of the
most important business and fin=:-
ancial concerns in the Domiiiaon
He was born in London, Ortty,..
on December 2, 1875, son of Wil :•-
liam Richard Hobbs and Annie
Osborne, and graduated from the -
University of Toronto, with the
degree of Bachelor of Arts, in, a
1898.
JOHN W. HOBBS.
In 1905, he married Katherine--
Babbitt.
Katherine•-Babbitt. They have one daugh-
ter. Entering the service of the
Hobbs Manufacturing. Company, ,
Limited, in London, Ont., in 1898, ;
he became manager of the Con
solidated Plate Glass Company, .
Limited, Toronto, in 1901, and
managing director in 1907. He
is now the organization's press -;--
dent.
Other interests include direc-
torships in: the Lake of the Woods -
Milling •Company, Limited;' the -
Imperial Banat of. Canada; the.
Continental I Life Insurance Com-
pany; the Scottish Union incur- •
• ants Company, of Edinburgh, .
Scotland, and the Securities
,Balding Corporation.,
His .social interests are many
and varied. Ile is anardent'
devotee of fishing, golf and' ten-
nis and is a member of the York,...
National,' Bunt and Ontario Too • •
key Clubs, Toronto. IIe alsa:-
belongs to the Royal 'Canadian
Yacht Club; the Caledon Moun•
-
tain Trout Club, and the Larnbton
Golf Club:, Itis Montreal clubs•:
include the Mount:Rgyal „ i'ot'est
and Stream and Mama Eirrno Golf'
Club: 1